Starboard is dominating the windfoil market quite a bit at the moment. With a wide range of boards and wind foils. Sister brand Severne has also started to develop boards in recent years. Now Severne is taking the next step. The introduction of a wind foil board with its own developed windfoil. You could almost say what adds this to the wide range of Starboard. We were the first in the Netherlands to test the concept board. Read our findings below.
Severne Alien foilboard, nicely positioned
Alien 105 | 190 cm L | 65 cm B | 7,2 kg | Carbon | € 2,379,-
Alien 115 | 200 cm L | 70 cm W | 7.3 kg | Carbon | € 2.399,-
Alien 125 | 210 cm L | 75 cm W | 7.6 kg | Carbon | € 2.449,-
Severne’s regular windsurfboards are positioned as ‘easy-to-sail everyone’s friends’. We are curious how this translates into the wind foil board and the wind foil. We got Severne Alien with 115 liters. 195 cm long and 70 cm wide. The shape of the board is somewhat reminiscent of the Starboard X-foil, but much more subtle and much less thick. You might think it’s a new generation slalomboard. The carbon board is super light, weighs less than 8 kilos. We think the board looks incredibly good, very tough and striking (the board in the picture is a prototype).
Severne Redwing nice light
Then the Severne Redwing windfoil. The front wing has an area of 1400 cm2 and has a round shape. Similar to starboard’s Supercruiser,but just a little smaller. The mast is 90 cm long and the fuselage is by 85 cm just longer than that of the supercruiser. Both are made of light aluminium. The blades are of a mix of carbon and a G10 like material. The foil is about 40% lighter than starboard’s aluminum foils, but still feels solid and stiff. The connections between the parts also feel very solid. So on dry land, this Severne Redwing foil seems to be just between the Starboard Super Cruiser and the Starboard Freeride. Perhaps a very good choice!
Extremely easy up windfoiling
We go with about 10 to 14 knots of wind on the water and use the Severne Foilglide 5.0 m2 as an engine. We were a little worried that 115 liters and the relatively narrow board would be a bit tricky to get going with this wind. But as soon as we speed up the set, the set goes up and accelerates with a little pumping fine. Nice and nice much lift and the set feels stable and balanced. We notice that this combination feels faster that the X-foil with the Super Cruiser, but also slower than the combination Starboard Freeride 150 with the Freeride foil or GT-R. It’s a little in between. And that’s actually pretty good. We think this is a finer combo than the X-foil with Super Cruiser which gives a lot of lift and feels more nervous than the Severne Alien combo.
At first we were afraid that 115 liters would be a little, but this it’s enough. We therefore expect that the 125 litres will have more than sufficient volume at all times, even with less wind and bigger sails.
The first jibe is always exciting on a new set. What can we expect? Well, he’s very easy to jibe and that the set stays in the air for a long time. This makes a foiling jibe very easy. The foil feels very stable. Although this foil is much lighter than the Starboard wind foils, we do not notice any noticeable difference in stability and stiffness. So why do the Starboard foils have to be so heavy?
Board and foil are meant for each other
We’ve been changing a few things. We put the Severne Redwing windfoil under the Starboard Freeride 150 and we placed the GT-R under the Severne Alien. Both sets were completely out of balance. At the Freeride we had to stand all the way on the back to get up and keep it in the air and then the set was very boring to sail with. The GT-R under the Severne Alien made the board faster, but gave way too much lift at speed, uncomfortable to foil with. At the same time, the board didn’t come up so easily anymore.
So watch out! Are you interested in the foil or the board? Then buy the whole set.
Playful Freerider
Well, what booth are we putting this set in? It’s not an X-foil with Supercruiser and it’s not a Freeride. It’s in between. The Freeride 150 suddenly feels like a battleship and the X-foil is more nervous and challenges you to play, make 360 and try duck gibes. The Alien is easy going and forgiving and fast and easy to foil. We think the Severne Alien 125 is best suited for the Netherlands. We think a golden grip of Severne. This set can make it difficult to make the Starboard Freeride 125 and 150 quite difficult.
For whom?
- Freeride oriented wind foiler
- Foilers who want to foil with little wind and small sails
- More experienced windfoilers, the carbonboard is vulnerable!